


Weekend Break

by esmerelda_t



Category: Daredevil (TV), Jessica Jones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-08 04:18:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18887038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esmerelda_t/pseuds/esmerelda_t
Summary: There’s a pause on the end of the line and Jessica braces herself for another blast of Trish’s quiet disapproval. Trish is trying to pitch her tone as casual interest but Jessica knows better. “You’re going away for the weekend with Matt? I didn’t think it was that kind of relationship, aren’t you just, like friends with benefits?”





	Weekend Break

**Author's Note:**

> Written prior to The Defenders airing. Based on the brief hints we got previoulsy I didn't think they were going to go down the nun route with Maggie. Also hand waving the fact Jessica can't drive.

There’s a pause on the end of the line and Jessica braces herself for another blast of Trish’s quiet disapproval. Trish is trying to pitch her tone as casual interest but Jessica knows better. “You’re going away for the weekend with Matt? I didn’t think it was that kind of relationship, aren’t you just, like friends with benefits?”

Jessica rolls her eyes as she continues to stuff her change of underwear into her overnight bag, “It’s more like a superpower support group with benefits. We’re going upstate for a couple of nights, Trish, we’re not eloping. He’s got business to take care of up there and I offered to drive him.”

“What business?”

Jessica sighs, this is what she gets for being honest as to why she couldn’t meet Trish for brunch, “That’s _his_ business. We’ll be back Sunday night, meet you for lunch, Monday?”

It’s Trish’s turn to sigh, “Yeah, okay, just be careful.” Jessica rolls her eyes, “Yes, mom. I’ll text you to let you know I’m back Sunday, bye, Trish.” She hangs up after Trish’s own good bye, swings her bag over her shoulder and heads for the front door.

~

When she pulls up in front of Matt’s apartment building he’s waiting outside, she beeps the horn and he tilts his head in her direction, taps his cane along, and opens the door with a hey in greeting. Jessica replies and partly out of habit and partly because she assumes he can feel the air currents or whatever, gestures to the back seat, “You want to dump your bag in the back with mine?”

Matt tosses his bag in the back, folds up his cane and sits down in the passenger seat, Jessica pulls away while he clicks his seatbelt into place. They’re a block over when Matt quietly states, “Thanks for doing this, Jess.”

She glances over, not that he can tell, or maybe he can, “It’s no big deal.”

Matt makes a noise that Jessica thinks may actually be a snort, “No? You drive many of your fuck buddies up state to meet their estranged mother?”

Jessica feigns a gasp, “Matthew, what do you mean? I thought we were _betrothed_?” She changes her tone to as close to sincerity as she can manage, “I think we have to accept the fact that we may actually be friends, congratulations, you’ve made a very short list.”

Matt’s head is turned towards the window, he can’t be appreciating the view, maybe it’s the warmth of the sun through the glass, “Yeah? You too.”

~

The media had labelled them ‘The Defenders’, the four of them, but that gave the impression they were a team. They weren’t, a loose temporary alliance was probably the most accurate description. Which wasn’t to say that bonds and friendships and the shiny feel good glow of working together hadn’t occurred. She and Matt just hadn’t been part of it, not really. Luke and Danny, they’d made a great team, had pulled others, Claire, Colleen, Misty, into their orbit. She and Matt had slinked back to Hell’s Kitchen at the end of it.

She was happy for Luke and Claire, really she was. There were both good people who deserved to be happy. She just hoped they didn’t invite her to the fucking inevitable wedding as refusal often offends.

She’d asked, early on, why Matt and Claire had broken up, as neither seemed to be hiding the fact they were once a thing, Matt had just shrugged and said with a tone that screamed practiced nonchalance to Jessica, “She said she didn’t want this life, guess though that really she just didn’t want it with me.”

~

The traffic out of the city is fairly typical for a Friday but it’s not too late when they get to the B&B they’re staying at. It’s that kind of town, B&B rather than motel. It’s nice. On check in they’re advised of where they can grab food and after dinner, because there’s nothing else to do, it’s a nice bed and it’s not like it’s not what they do, they fuck.

Jessica is tall, she’s always liked bigger guys, she doesn’t think too much about the reasons why. Matt is about the same height as her though, if she’s tall for a woman he’s what’s politely termed ‘average’ for a man. When they sleep in the same bed she tends to sleep behind him, they fit well together. She refuses to use the phrase spooning. Matt’s back is covered in scars and it’s almost hypnotic, tracing them. She’s doing so, following the patterns, when she asks, “You nervous, about tomorrow?”

There’s no bullshit preamble, “Yes. I don’t even remember what she looks like. Guess it doesn’t matter, not like I’d be able to recognise her that way anyway.”

~

Jessica recognises her, as soon as she walks through the door of the diner they’ve arranged to meet her in. It’s not so much the hair, which is half way between chestnut and grey now, it’s the _mouth._   Her heart must skip or her breath must hitch at the moment of recognition as Matt turns towards her frowning, “Jess?”

“I think she’s here.” Jessica stands as she says it, to catch Maggie Murdock’s eye, only it’s not Murdock anymore.  Hasn’t been in a long time. As she stands Matt makes a soft noise beside her but if he’s having second thoughts it’s too late now. Maggie notices Jessica and her eyes flick to Matt, before back up to Jessica and she smiles, it’s a smile of determination to get this over with.

On the death of Jack Murdock, Maggie Murdock signed a document making their son a ward of the state. That’s a matter of public record. It was the first significant bit of information Jessica had found when Matt had hired her to find his mother, she’d offered to do it pro bono but he’d insisted. Matt hadn’t known and Jessica had casually blurted it out as she’d assumed he _did_. She’d been the one to tell him his mother had known all along his father was dead but left him in an orphanage anyway. 

Maggie approaches the table and asks, cautiously, “Matthew?”

Matt stands, holds out his hand and smiles, “Only my priest calls me Matthew, it’s Matt.”

Maggie shakes his hand before turning, “And you must be Jessica? We spoke on the phone?”

Jessica shakes Maggie’s hand briskly and they sit down, the waitress comes over to take their order. They’re three towns over from the one Maggie actually lives in. With her husband and three, other, sons, well the eldest is at college now. Jessica had found all of this out and then had it translated into braille. She justified it by the fact it’s what she’d have done with any client, provided a full report rather than sat them down and held their hand while she talked them through it. She hadn’t heard from Matt for a week and when she went to his door he’d been in his work-out clothes, said he was just back from the gym and neither of them said anything about the fact that at some point in the past week he’d trashed his apartment.

Maggie had been married and pregnant with her ‘eldest’ son when Jack Murdock had died. She’d been in Atlantic City for a while but at some point she’d gotten her shit together, gone back to school and met and married Jim Burton. They’d moved back to Jim’s hometown and ran a successful business, raised three sons and left Matt to the mercies of overworked, underfunded, nuns and Stick.

Not that anyone brings this up. They make casual small talk while they wait for their coffee, no one seemingly had the stomach for food. Maggie asks about their journey up and then, clearly assuming, asks how long they’ve been together. She can feel Matt tense beside her but before he can reply, Jessica takes his hand as she says, “We’ve know each other for a little over a year, we met through work, Matt’s a lawyer.”

Maggie smiles at that last bit of information and it looks genuine, “What kind of lawyer?”

Matt clears his throat, “Defence. What um…does your son…your son at college have a major?”

Maggie nods and Jessica narrates, “Maggie has just nodded.” Maggie blushes at that, “Oh sorry, yes, Brandon is a chemistry major at Princeton.”

Jessica can feel the tension in Matt’s hand as it grips hers but his voice remains neutral, “Are your other sons into science?”

Maggie shakes her head but remembers to also speak, “No, Paul is applying for sports scholarships, he does track, Dan is our youngest, he likes to draw, they’re all pretty different.”

The waitress appears with their coffee and Jessica lets go of Matt’s hand to add her cream and sugar. Maggie looks like she’s considering asking if Matt needs help but while she hesitates Jessica states, “Cream is at your 3 o’clock.” As Matt adds his cream he asks, “Do you have any photos? Of your sons?”

Maggie frowns but replies, “Yes I have some on my phone but…” she clearly doesn’t want to state the obvious, how can Matt look at them. Matt just smiles, “May we see? Jess can describe them to me.”

Maggie pauses but fishes her phone out of her purse and taps it to access the photos, hands it over, “Sure, you just scroll though.” Jessica takes the phone and proceeds to flick through a couple of photos of a garden before landing on a photo that is clearly all three of the Burton boys together. They’re a good looking family. All dark hair and lush mouths, the one she assumes is Paul, he has the leanness of a runner, has bright blue eyes which he must have inherited from his father. The other two look to have hazel eyes, like Matt, like Maggie.  Matt wouldn’t look out of place amongst them.

Maggie looks down at her cup as she says quietly, “Jim….he knows about you of course, but the boys don’t. We’ve talked about telling them, over the years, but we thought perhaps it would be better to see if you tried to contact me when you were 18, but you didn’t and now it’s this _huge_ secret we’ve kept from them. There’s no way to tell them now without imploding their lives.” Maggie’s intent is obvious, she has no intention of telling them, meaning she has no intent of Matt being in her, or their, lives.

Jessica can feel the anger coiling in her gut, “But it was okay that Matt’s life was imploded? It was okay you left him in a _fucking orphanage_?”

Matt says her name softly but Jessica ignores him, Maggie is shaking her head, “You think it was an easy choice? I was twenty when I got pregnant with Matthew and I….I couldn’t cope. I _tried_ I really did but I just _couldn’t._ I was so afraid it was going to happen again when I was pregnant with Brandon and then Jack was dead and I had to decide…I knew I couldn’t cope with a nine year old disabled child I didn’t even know and a new baby. So I….”

Maggie is crying by this point and by the way he’s slightly shaking beside her Jessica knows Matt isn’t far off joining her, his voice is hoarse, “It’s okay, Maggie. I understand, I don’t…I don’t want anything from you, I’m not going to turn up on your door one Thanksgiving and cause a scene. I just….I wanted to meet you, wanted to know that you were happy and safe, that’s all.”

People are looking over at them, Maggie has taken a tissue out of her purse as there’s no trying to hide her tears, “But I should be the one checking that you’re happy and safe, I thought if I gave up my parental rights then you would be able to be adopted, that it was the best thing to do for you…I’m sorry, Matthew, please don’t think that I don’t love you, there’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think about you, but I did nothing but fuck things up when it came to you. I can’t do that with the other boys, I need to protect them. I’m sorry but please don’t contact me again.”

Before either Jessica or Matt can say anything Maggie jumps up from her seat and rushes for the door. Jessica throws some money on the table to pay for the coffees and takes Matt’ arm to guide him out. His breathing is erratic but they at least make it outside, they even make it to the car. Jessica pulls him to her and holds him so tight she’s probably adding to his ever constant collection of bruises. At one point, through the tears, he mumbles to her, “Why couldn’t she love me like she loves them? What’s wrong with me?” Jessica screws her own eyes shut and shushes him as she rubs his back.

~

Jessica doesn’t actually own pyjamas. She either sleeps in her underwear and vest or in nothing. Matt has drawers full of soft sweats and hoodies and he’s in a set, she’s wearing one of the spare hoodies he’s brought over her underwear but isn’t bothered with sweats. They’re lying on top of the bed and Jessica asks as gently as she can, “Do you want to call, Foggy? I won’t be offended if you’d rather speak to him than me.” Matt’s fidgeting with the hem on the sleeve of the hoodie Jessica is wearing, “No, he offered to come too but I thought bringing two additional people was probably a bit overwhelming. Promised I’d call him tomorrow when I got back.”

“You need to check in too, huh? I’m meant to text Trish as soon as I’m back in the city.” Matt continues to worry at the seam as he replies, “She doesn’t like me much, I can tell.” Matt’s tone is matter of fact, she doesn’t really think he gives a fuck what Trish thinks. Jessica doesn’t even think it’s that, “No offence but I don’t think she actually thinks about you enough to have an opinion as definite as dislike. She thinks I use you as an excuse to not have to form a healthy functional relationship.”

Matt is smiling when she glances over, “Foggy basically said the same thing to me about you, think they’re planning a joint intervention?” Jessica grimaces, it’s a point, they might. She decides to change the subject, “Why didn’t you bring Foggy if he offered?” Matt pauses, “He…he tries to understand but he doesn’t really. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it but it’s just exhausting sometimes. Both of us trying, him to understand and me to explain.”  She doesn’t really expect him to continue but he does, “At first, I thought she’d come and get me. I still vaguely remembered her back then. It wasn’t a clean break you know, she’d come back every so often, I think maybe I was five the last time.”

Jessica asks, even if she’s not sure she wants to know the answer, “When did you stop thinking she was coming?”

“Don’t know.  I still thought it during Stick, didn’t think I was still waiting for her but he’d say sometimes, if I was crying for my dead Daddy or my Mommy who didn’t give a fuck about me.”

Jessica isn’t easily appalled but it’s the main emotion she feels whenever Matt mentions Stick, that and the urge to put his grizzled head through a wall, “He said that to you?” Matt’s voice is gruff but she thinks it’s just tiredness at this point, “Yeah. I finally stopped thinking maybe she’d come get me after he left. I knew then no one was coming to get me, no one ever would. It got easier after that, everything hurt less, or maybe I just got numb to it.” He mumbles, “Sorry, you didn’t sign up for this shit.”

Jessica leans forward and rests her forehead against his, “I do like you, you know that, right? I wouldn’t be here for just anybody.” She’s found an advantage of being with a blind guy is you can have your eyes open for moments social convention says your eyes should be shut for so she sees the way his mouth curves, pleased at what he’s hearing, possibly despite himself, “I like you too.”

_Six months later_

The sofa bed at Luke and Claire’s is not in the slightest bit comfy so it’s a sign of how long a night it’s been, it’s beginning to get light out, that Matt’s not complaining more. He is basically lying on top of her though which, when you think about it, is sort of sweet. She’s preferable to the cheap guest sheets. Matt doesn’t lift his head from her shoulder to say, “Urgh, they’re talking about us.” Jessica frowns, “Rude. They must know you can hear. What are they saying?”

Matt’s head remains down, “Wondering if we’re together, apparently we weren’t argumentative enough about sharing a bed.” Luke had offered her his place in the bed beside Claire, saying he’d take the floor, gent that he was. She’d insisted she was fine to share with Matt. It was all vaguely ridiculous, it’s not like they held hands while strolling down an alley for a fight but they weren’t hiding anything either. She nudges his leg, “You wanna have really loud sex on their couch?” She can feel Matt’s grimace, “I’m too bruised, too tired and too Catholic for that.” She yawns, “Maybe we should just put them out of their misery? Tell them we’re…” Matt props himself up, grins at her, “We’re what? Dating? Going steady?”

Jessica grimaces, “I was going to say fucking. _Going steady_ , what is this? The fifties? Are we going for a malt and a drive through movie?” Matt snorts and lies back down, “Hardly, you never take me anywhere as nice as a drive through movie.”  Jessica rolls her eyes, “Go to sleep, I think you’re getting delirious.”

She drifts off to sleep with Matt’s breath on her neck.


End file.
